Lawyer Suspected of Bribing Judge Heboyan Arrested

A lawyer suspected of facilitating bribery, Vahagn Danielyan, has been identified and arrested. This was reported by the Special Investigation Service.

It is noted that a criminal case initiated by the NSS has been accepted by an investigator from the Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Armenia against Judge Gagik Heboyan of the general jurisdiction court of Kotayk for receiving bribes with the assistance of a lawyer from the Chamber of Advocates of Armenia, in violation of Article 311, Part 4, Points 2 and 3 of the RA Criminal Code.

According to the charges, the judge demanded a bribe equivalent to 3,500 USD, or 1,715,000 AMD, from a party to a civil case he was hearing on March 4, 2019, in exchange for taking action in favor of the plaintiff.

Following negotiations with the citizen, Gagik Heboyan reached a final agreement to receive a bribe of 2,500 USD, or 1,225,000 AMD, for the aforementioned action. To avoid personally accepting the bribe and being exposed, the judge sought the help of an acquaintance, a lawyer. On March 27, 2019, during an operational-investigative measure conducted by the NSS, the citizen handed over the 2,500 USD bribe to the lawyer, who transferred it to the judge on the same day.